The Hive
by Somniums
Summary: The Might of Kalimdor failed to defeat the silithid of Ahn'Qiraj, Azeroth has been forever changed and now the last remaining survivors fight for their lives and possibly try to rebuild their shattered world.
1. Prologue

**The Hive**

A Warcraft Fanfiction

by Somniums

**Prologue**

The sun was dimmed and obscured by a torrent of dust and swarming insects, where once there was unbearable heat now a chilling air began to settle on the desert of Silithus. Half buried in blood shaded sand and half alive was the shaking form of an alliance soldier, bruised and battered as he came to consciousness from previous trauma that had rendered him incapacitated. Surrounding the footman were the countless bodies of others, not just human and not just alliance. Dwarfs, orcs, all that had made up the 'Might of Kalimdor' now lay lifeless and mangled in a sea of death around him. The sheer thousands of corpses that were strewn about the desert in all directions and the weight of his own injuries brought the soldier to painful tears of agony and despair, misting the inside of his shattered and dented helmet.

"Uhnn...!" Cried the broken man as he tried to pull himself to his feet.

Using his arms to try and push himself up into a sitting posture till a horrid agony shot through his entirety, stunning him and causing him to wretch and vomit a mixture of blood and bile. The soldier looked at his midsection in horror, from the hips down he had been cleanly severed from his legs. Even the armor that was the pride of his military lay in a mocking, sliced belt around his lower half as he inadvertently drug himself apart. Darkness grasping for the mortally wounded soldier who was held to life only by shock and fear, another shadow loomed over him as he tearfully looked up to the sight of an insectoid monstrosity chittering deeply above him. Soulless and copious eyes observed him with a cold prediction before the beast raised twin appendages that were to each side of its otherwise humanoid posture, soon two chitin bladed arms came splitting through the soldier's chest, ending his life as he joined the growing graveyard. The Might of Kalimdor had failed.


	2. Chapter 1: Remnant

**Chapter 1**  
"Remnant"

"Would ye mind passin' me a bit'a that buttar'?" Asked a grizzled, unkempt dwarf sitting at the moldy table.

"..." No reply came from the scarred, hulking orc at the other end of the table who seemed preoccupied with looking at the corner of the room.

"Fine fine, but ye' know... gonna have to start bein' a bit more friendly ya'?" Said the dwarf in a kind tone as he reached over and grabbed a spoonful of melted butter from a wooden bowl.

The orc looked to the dwarf that accompanied him across the old, broken table with a grim snarl before shrugging and spitting at the foot of his chair, turning back towards the arbitrary corner. He seemed reluctant to make eye contact. The dwarf meanwhile begun whistling merrily while sliding a dull knife coated in butter across a moldy, half eaten bread roll before taking a bite out of it noisily.

In came walking a tall, broad human man wearing a tattered and sand covered cloak that draped the majority of his body. His raven hair was cut short and speckled with sand like the rest of him. A pair of tinted goggles masked his eyes and a ruffled bandanna covered his nose and mouth. He pulled the bandanna down to his neck as he gave the dwarf and orc a simultaneous pat on the back, mouth curling into a grin as he pulled a satchel from his side and placed it on the table.

"Good news!" Came the human, "I found some near pristine swine flanks in the cellar of a nearby farmhouse. We'll be eaten good tonight huh?" Another pat to both of their backs before the man settled down in a chair at the table.

The room they were in was underground, walls of earth surrounded them and were supported by hastily placed planks. The doorway was less of a door and more of a piece of heavy cloth draping their little hole in the ground. Small passages went in all directions, the one in which the human came in from was a small stretch of tunnel leading to the outside, where as others lead to sleeping areas that mostly just composed of poor pillows and dirty blankets thrown on the ground. The room the three currently occupied was filled with boxes and bags, supplies of various sorts.

The orc and the dwarf seemed rather comfortable, if even the orc seemed displeased with his company. Both of them were wearing rags like the human, sand splashed and rugged. Pairs of goggles hung from stakes in the wall next to the exit, as did larger, heavier robes and cloaks.

The orc, who was named Urok, finally broke his silence and looked to the human and then the satchel, speaking broken common.

"You find meat?" He said gruffly, lowly, and with an awkward and trying accent.

"Yeah buddy, dig in!" Said the human, who went by Feren.

Urok gave Feren a glance before reaching into the satchel, almost a hopeful gleam in his eye before he suddenly clenched his teeth together and roared with disgruntlement. Urok pulled from the satchel a large, dead, decaying rat as he tossed it to the ground while Feren and the dwarf, who was called Gureb, broke into laughter.

"Ah! Almost got me ya' did!" Gureb chuckled, slapping his knee while continuing to enjoy his roll.

Urok went back to a sulking demeanor.

"Oh, lighten up! You should of known I was joking, we're not gonna find any 'pristine' anything out here! Especially meat! Do you see any pigs out there?" Feren continued to laugh before getting more comfortable, removing his cloak and hanging it up on one of the empty stakes in the wall near the exit. He was now wearing a simple yet dirty white linen shirt and pair of sturdy traveling pants and boots that had seen a lot of wear.

"Anyway, jokes over." Feren started in while Urok continued to fume.

"I was looking around near the border-" Suddenly Gureb finished his roll and slammed his stout hands on the table, nearly breaking it off its dilapidated legs.

"The border! Alone lad?" Gureb's tone changed serious and somewhat angry.

"Calm down it was just for a bit." Feren tried to calm the now unpleasant dwarf.

"No! We don't go that far away alone, we don't we don't we don't!" Gureb chanted, Urok just listened and begun to nibble at a piece of moldy bread himself.

"Well, I did, now listen to what I found." Feren continued his point.

"About a dozen or so miles to the east, when you're getting close to Durotar, it looks like there are some others out there starting to set up a rather large encampment on the riverside, or what used to be the river anyway." Feren recounted while Urok listened, somewhat interested.

"You sure about that lad? Did ya' actually see anyone?" Gureb said with hesitation.

"Obviously! I didn't just see a bunch of sticks in the ground and assume it was the end of our troubles." Feren said light heartedly.

"An' I s'pose you just want us to waltz right on over there and say 'ello yeah?" Gureb said with harsh sarcasm before taking large drink from a nearby wooden mug.

"I figured it'd be worth it to see what the situation is over there. Or are you content with our nice little hole in the ground?" Feren became a bit frustrated with Gureb's reluctance.

"This 'hole in the ground' has kept us safe and breathing real nice for about two years now lad! I'm pa-retty inclined to stay wherever there ain't bugs tha' size of a tank tryin' to get me!" Gureb took another angry gulp of his mug.

"Plus, we've done a pretty nice job'a stocking up here. You gonna move all this yourself laddy?"

"Right now I think we should just go see." Feren said as he began to nibble on some bread. "What do you think Urok?"

The big orc looked at Feren as he had been the whole duration of the conversation since the mention of Durotar.

"I go." Urok replied curtly.

"Right! It's settled then, the three of us will travel out to see about that camp in the morning tomorrow." Feren declared as he finished up a roll and stood up, stretching out his broad arms and yawning.

"When the sun's up, we're heading out!" Feren departed to one of the sleeping areas.

Gureb ate the rest of his dinner in silence, then topped off his mug before slamming it back down against the table to vent his frustration, looking to Urok.

"Love tha' boy to death but he's gonna get us killed if he doesn't start thinkin' ahead. He said he saw the camp from tha' border, yanno what that means? Means it ain't underground. Know what that means? Means those things prolly all ready gottem." Gureb exhaled deeply, his eyes growing somber as he pinched his brow and looked at his lap. Urok didn't say anything or make too much of a motion, Gureb looked back up to him.

"I know what you're thinkin', it's close to home yeah?" Gureb spokes softly and considerately.

"But we both know those things wiped it all out, ain't gonna be nothin' there but more of those things and a whole mess of trouble."

Urok looked at the dwarf sternly, Gureb didn't flinch but he knew what the orc was thinking.

"Everyone there, here, anywhere, is dead. Findin' survivors is like findin' a piece of hay in a stack of needles, it ain't worth goin' in after!"

Urok stood and retired to another one of the sleeping areas, Gureb exhaled heavily and stood up as well tossing the napkin from his shirt to his plate before heading to his own room. The sun soon dropping outside in what was once the Barrens, previously a somewhat damaged land had become like most of the suspected world now, decrepit desert devoid of life.

They were called the silithid, they had been an issue in southern Kalimdor for some time. The silithid were a vile force of destruction composed of insect like creatures that grew to horrible size and bred with alarming rapidity. The silithid were born from the Qiraj, and the Qiraj had come from an even more disturbing origin. By the time the races of Azeroth had discovered the frightening truth and had begun to mobilize against the silithid, calling themselves the Might of Kalimdor, they were all ready too late.

Rarely have the combined forces of all the major powers in Azeroth joined against a common enemy, though when they were brought together before the gates of Ahn'Qiraj it was not enough. The Qiraj had been biding themselves, and the silithid's presence outside of the ancient temple proved to be a fragment of a fragment as terrible as what had been dormant inside. Heroes had come with the aid of the Bronze Dragonflight itself to reopen the gates and face the threat inside, but when they did they hardly had the time to react to the force the quickly overwhelmed their countless men and women who had so bravely come to protect their home. The silithid soon spread across all of Kalimdor, wiping clean all forms of life until Kalimdor resembled a giant desert, much like Silithus.

Counter efforts had been made in response to the silithid's sudden eruption of power, but all who resisted with force were overwhelmed. Thunder Bluff, the capital city of the tauren was the first to fall. The speed in which they were attacked hardly gave them time to respond, their city on the rise soon becoming just another site of death and more hives to the silithid, Mulgore became a faceless desert like the rest of Kalimdor soon would. The silithid had won, and in their wake there remained only handfuls of survivors, their continuing existence solely to thank to simply being in the right places at the wrong time.


	3. Chapter 2: Search

**Chapter 2**  
"Search"

The morning came in the form of creeping tendrils of light snaking in through the entryway, peering through holes in the tattered drapes and illuminating what they could touch. Feren woke relatively peacefully as he sat up, rubbing his dirty wrist against his eyes as he blinked to wash the sleep from his eyes. He got up to wake the others, walking out into the table room.

"Thought ya'd never wake up boy, dreamin' happy dreams?" Gureb said, fully clad and standing near the exit with Urok who too had all ready gotten prepared.

The dwarf's big, dark brown beard cascaded down over his portly abdomen that was clothed tightly with a dwarf sized cloak that encompassed his stocky form. Both Urok and Gureb sported the same tinted goggles and bandanna over their noses and mouths, muffling their speech a bit from the density of the fabric.

"Ah!" Feren was excited to see them all ready up, now smiling wide as he got his equipment on.

"Nope, nightmares, like always!" Feren said in a rather gleeful tone for such a dreary statement.

Gureb nodded, and Urok was quiet as always as Feren lead them out of the mound and out into the ripping winds of the desert. At Feren's side was sheathed a shortsword and on his back dangled a broad, battered shield over his leather pack. Urok carried with him a massive dual sided axe that bore the mark of the Horde, for now it was strapped loosely to his back for ease of access. Gureb had a meager set of daggers hidden beneath his cloak, strapped to each outer thigh and a large iron war mace he was using as a walking stick as they traveled on.

Feren pointed out east, the haze of the heat and the reflection of the sand distorting the horizon as they begun to trek out in that direction. It seemed as common as the fierce, unhindered winds that assaulted them by the moment and blasted them with waves of sand that there was the constant buzzing and hissing of invisible insects all around them, an imprint from the traumatic ordeals each of them had endured.

"A dozen or so miles, huh?" Gureb shouted over the roar of the sandstorms that had begun to pick up. Urok periodically would place a flagged stake in the ground to mark their path but each of the three had become rather familiar with the area, even if it was all sand and nothing more.

"Yeah, it won't take us long!" Feren shouted back as they continued to march forwards.

Soon the trio appeared as silhouettes atop a large dune overseeing a great dip in the earth that had once been the riverbed of the Southfury river that acted as a natural border between what was once Durotar and the Barrens. The group paused as Feren looked about through the billowing clouds of dust.

"This is where I was yesterday!" He stated, though it couldn't be seen through all of the equipment and clothing, Gureb was sighing.

"It was prolly just'a-" Gureb started before he was cut off by Feren, now excited.

"Ah! There it is!" He pointed a gloved finger out and down a little bit to the left, the sandstorm dying down gave way to the definition of tents, fencing foundations, and even some livestock wandering about freely and others confined to robe and pole.

Gureb was a little surprised, but not one to become overly hopeful. Urok was stoic as always.

The three made their way to the site and looked about, drawing closer to the nearest tent before a haggard old voice cried out.

"Halt!"

The three stopped and began to look about, hands creeping towards their respective weapons. Soon another cloaked individual, lanky and thin came from around the corner of the tent with a bow pulled taut with an arrow aimed right at Feren, though the archer's hands were shaking with age and his aim was far from focused.

"We're not here to cause trouble." Feren said, putting his hands up and out to try and calm the old man who was so far the only one they had seen here.

"Calm down ole' guy, no reason to'a be fighting one another when there are worse things out there yeah?" Gureb started in, Urok just growled lowly from behind his mask.

"Are you bandits?" The old man asked fearfully, seemingly ready to lose his grip on the bow at any time.

Feren looked to either of his companions before shaking his head.

"I'm no bandit, and neither are my two friends here."

Soon another figure, taller and more full than the old man came out and placed a gloved hand against his arrow, lowering it.

"I think they're fine." Said the new figure, a woman by the sounds of her voice and suspected by the long chocolate brown locks of hair draping a thick, covered bosom.

The old man reluctantly held the bow back down by his side as he shuffled back towards the middle of the camp, now more figures were visible, some in tents, others under canopies, their cloaks blended with the sand rather effectively.

The three now turned their attention to the woman who had dismissed the elderly man.

"Come on, it's too windy out here." She said as she motioned for them to follow, and eagerly Feren did as Gureb and Urok followed behind. They were lead to a large tent with several rugs and blankets strewn about the ground, cots had been set up as had some tables and chairs.

"Sit, tell me where you all come from." She said as Feren waved his hand.

"We'll stand, thanks."

"Suit yourself." The woman pulled her hood back and dropped the protective goggles around her eyes to circle her neck. She was a younger human female with lush brown hair, bright green eyes and a tone of skin that was striped from awkward tanning around the edges of protective clothing.

"So, where'd you three come from?" She asked once more before excusing herself.

"Oh! I didn't even introduce myself, I'm Mia, it's nice to see some new faces for once that aren't trying to rob us or kill us." She tried to break an otherwise troubled tone with forced laughter.

Feren nodded.

"A pleasure, I am Feren of the former Alliance 8th Legion. This is Gureb-" Feren was suddenly caught off by Gureb who was all ready extending his stout hand to Mia.

"I'll intra'duce myself to tha' pretty lass myself thank ya'!" He said with muffled cheer through his covered mouth as he looked back to Mia.

"Gureb, and I agree with my boy Feren here, truly a pleasure! Ya' are a sight to tired eyes." Gureb didn't make an effort to hide the awkwardly flirtatious tone in his grizzled voice.

Mia took his hand and shook it while smiling, entertained by Gureb's outburst of courtesy. She looked to Urok who stood there quietly, ominously.

"This is Urok, he's a big baby and doesn't talk much." Feren said and Gureb joined him in a laugh as Urok merely grunted. Mia nodded.

"We've been living out in the Barrens for about two years now, we've dug out a mound that has plenty of medical supplies, food, and more. I saw your camp yesterday and wanted to see if there were any survivors that needed our help."

Mia's expression suddenly shot with surprise,

"You have medical supplies! Do you have anything that could help one of the survivors in our camp?"

Mia quickly led them to another tent that was filled with bandaged, unconscious, and other sorts of wounded individuals. She knelt down next to a a tall night elf clad much like everyone else who was tending to a severely wounded and sickly troll male who lay with several bandages wrapped around his abdomen entirety.

Urok sprung to activity and brushed aside Mia, kneeling down and talking heavily in his native orcish tongue now trying to seemingly gain the attention of the troll. He looked back to the others when the troll remained unresponsive.

"I, know this... err... I know... him." He forced out his progressing common to the others.

"He fight... err... was gonna... like me... you... us. In same. Seperated like all when... silithid..." It was broken but Feren and Gureb got the message.

"So ye've got a friend in this world after all do ya'?" Gureb said as he then looked to Mia.

"I can't let'a friend of a friend go sufferin' now, what's wrong with'm?"

"He was impaled and envenomed by one of the silithid when we were setting up camp, he drove off a whole swarm of them before one surprised him."

Gureb seemed surprised and appalled.

"An' while big blue and tall 'ere was fighting off tha' bugs what was everyone else doin'?" Presumedly taking it out of context.

"The others who tried to help were killed, the rest of us tried to protect what little we had left and hid. We've not seen any silithid since then, we think they came from the north, from where the old orc city used to be."

Urok grunted,

"Orgrimmar..."

Feren was deep in thought the whole time, the night elf that had been tending to the troll had departed and joined other cloaked and hooded individuals of varying sizes and shapes out under the canopy.

"Silithid venom is nasty stuff." Feren blurted, but optimistically as always.

"Back at our mound we have a few precious vials of anti-venom that we managed to save from the military stocks before everything went from bad to worst."

"We'll go back and get it, amongst more supplies that we can spare." Feren started out of the door, Urok looked over the troll once more before getting up to follow. Gureb looked to Mia once more,

"Don't worry lassy, we'll definitely be back!" The dwarf seemed a lot more cheerful about the whole ordeal than he did before encountering Mia.

"I'm coming with you." Mia declared, this stopped Feren as he was halfway out of the tent.

"You're probably safer here..."

Mia shook her head, all ready putting her goggles and hood back up.

"I'm coming, I'm no use here right now, and if you all have as much extra supplies as you claim you do, you'll need an extra person to carry it back right?"

Gureb looked at her now a bit more suspiciously.

"Slow down now, never said we were bringin' back everything. We need supplies too ya' know? Ten minutes and she's all ready tryin' ta' rob us!" He said in a mixed tone, both sarcastic and worried.

"Fine, we're wasting time, come on, just don't fall behind." Feren said as the four wandered back out and away from the camp, beginning to backtrack to their mound.


	4. Chapter 3: The Silithid

**Chapter 3**  
"The Silithid"

The three, now accompanied by Mia all began to trudge back through the desert and blasting winds. Periodically they would pass one of the flags that Urok had staked into the ground. Feren was in front, Gureb close behind and Urok a little behind Gureb. They walked close to one another almost like a broken triangle. Mia was a few steps behind them as she noticed their pace was brisk, even in these conditions. She sped up to get closer.

"How far is it again?" Mia asked.

"We'll be there within the hour." Feren replied, focused ahead.

"Ah, all right. So, how did you guys survive... you know..." Mia inquired, her tone drowning near the end with despondency.

Gureb felt more than capable of sharing his side,

"Ow'd we survive the big explosion'a nasties that came fumin' out'a the world that seemin'ly killed damn near everything?" He seemed angry with the silithid, but with reason.

"Well, ya' knew about our proud and mighty 'Might of Kalimdor' ya'?"

Mia nodded, "Yes, everyone knew about that effort."

Feren tensed a little at _effort._

"Yeah... well we were in the midst of preparations when all'a'va sudden this horrid racket comes rippin' and roarin' out of the damn ground. I was with my tank batallion passing towards Silithus just then enterin' Tanaris when next thing I know I'm careening through tha' air, no longer in a tank mind you! Next thing I know my hairy self has washed up on the shores of the goblin town of Ratchet."

Mia seemed surprise, recalling her geography of Kalimdor.

"You must've been..."

"Must've been floatin' for a while eh?" Gureb laughed at his own fortune.

"Well, anyway..." Gureb started to continue his story when suddenly Urok pointed out to their left flank and shouted in orcish, then correcting himself,

"SILITHID!" The hoarse, dark voice of the orc cried as he brandished his giant axe.

"Tell ya' later lassy." Gureb said as he pulled forth his war mace and readied himself.

The sand was a torrent of activity, no visible silithid forms in sight but the ebullition of the sand signified the approach of something large that was causing a great disturbance in its thrashing. A cacophony of chittering and clattering was heard as once the cloud of recklessly thrown about sand and dust was but fifty yards from them Urok charged forth.

"I'll watch Mia, Gureb!" Feren shouted over the clamor.

Gureb, even with his stocky legs tossed forwards to catch up with Urok who had all ready flung himself against the wailing cloud. Soon the forms of several large creatures could be seen, the sand settling as a handful more dug themselves free of the sand in which they traveled.

They were varied in form and size. Several were like large, black scorpions. Few more appeared as giant wasps with brutally long stinging appendages that could run a man through. Three of the silithid though had more humanoid forms and towered over the others. These three were roughly about one and a half times the size of Urok, their mandibles dripped with a foul stench and virulence. They were supported on two strong, bulky yet insectoid legs. The most fearsome weapon though was the two immense serrated arms that the humanoid silithid possessed.

"Stay close and behind me!" Feren commanded to Mia, anxious to be simply watching his companions fight off the invading creatures. His gaze locked forwards to observe the transpiring events.

A smaller silithid cried out, raising its twin pincers as it swiped for Urok's shins. The orc, in contrast to his bulky size, deftly sprung over the clasping pincers and dropped a heavy set of boots side by side down on the silithid's bulk as a sickening crunch and spray of innards blew out the sides of the beast. Urok continued his momentum with a deafening shout as he whirled his giant axe around to his left and swung with ruthless strength in a horizontal swipe against an approaching wasp which was not merely cleaved in two but rather ripped asunder in a violent explosion of chitin and internal fluid.

Gureb brought down his war mace against an opposing scorpion as it skittered forwards for an assault, catching it by its right pincer and snapping it from the rest of its body. The silithid cried out before swinging forth its remaining arm only for it too to be broken by a deft swing of the dwarf's mace. Without its forewards appendages now the desperate silithid came forwards to attempt and puncture Gureb with a sting of its vicious and swift tail. A skillful sidestep and the silithid missed its target, Gureb reached forwards with his freed hand and grasped the barb of the silithid's tail and with remarkable strength twisted and broke it free from the creature's body, leaving it without much to defend itself with.

"Aha, nothin' to fight with now eh?" Gureb jested in the middle of the chaos as the silithid desperately flung itself about in a tantrum before bleeding out.

Urok had shattered the exoskeletons of three more wasps with a single immense sweep of his axe before the larger, humanoid silithid had closed in for an assault.

"Look out!" Feren exclaimed as one of the larger silithid was sweeping a large, bladed arm towards Gureb.

Gureb noticed, intentionally rolling forwards as he tucked and rolled his stocky form up under the sweep of the giant blade. Rolling back to his feet with uncommon acrobatic prowess for a dwarf Gureb transferred the momentum of his movement into a swipe of his mace which landed accurately at the middle of the silithid's left leg, a sickening crunch splashing out as the monstrosity toppled over swinging wildly. Gureb, now back on his feet brought his now painted mace down on the beast's chittering head.

Urok meanwhile was wrestling with one of the remaining humanoid silithid. The orc's axe hung at his side as his strong, giant hands were grasping the forearms of the beast, holding back twin bladed appendages from slicing into his ribs that were mere inches away. Gureb looked to Urok with a startled expression before with a deafening roar from Urok and a demonstration of his titantic strength with a downwards motion Urok forcibly ripped the arms of the silithid free from its body. Using one of its own severed bladed arms against it Urok then forced the broken appendage back into the carapace of the monster as it staggered back, milky blood spewing from its wounds as it fell dead.

Gureb chanted a praise to the orc's feat of strength, but not before Urok cried out in Gureb's direction as the remaining silithid had cunningly disappeared into the sands during the turmoil, now erupting out of the ground behind Gureb as the startled dwarf was taken off guard, in an attempt to dodge ending on his broad back and his mace fallen from his hand. The silithid brought a giant blade down towards the dwarf's body. Though right before the slicing arm pierced through Gureb it stopped abruptly and wailed in a series of agonized chittering. Gureb looked up with surprised, beady eyes behind his goggles as the silithid fell dead on its side. Standing over the body of the beast wasn't Feren as he had expected.

It was Mia, holding two long, blood soaked daggers. Feren confusedly looked around behind him where he had suspected Mia was the entire time. Gureb's hidden mouth fell agape and Urok just shrugged and moved his axe back to its holstered position.

Mia wiped the blood from her daggers against her cloak before sheathing them once more at the sides of her hips beneath her concealing garments.

"Well!" Gureb seemed unable to muster the words for the expression he attempted to convey.

"I guess, thank ye'!" The dwarf scambled back to his feet, dusting himself off as Feren trodded over to join them.

Mia chuckled a little bit, she could sense the confused and surprised faces on the two.

"What?" Mia giggled once more.

"Nothin'"  
"Nothing."  
Urok grunted.


	5. Chapter 4: Confusion

**Chapter 4**  
"Confusion"

After the encounter with the silithid ambush, the four were closing in on the mound and hopefully, the life saving anti-venom for Urok's acquaintance.

"Handled ye'self real nicely back there lassy! I s'pose I owe ye' one!" Gureb praised while twiddling his gloved hand through his sandy beard.

"No no, you all took them down. I just got a lucky shot on one that had its back turned." Mia replied modestly, walking to the side of Gerub as Feren and Urok took the front.

The sun was beginning to dim as it closed in on the horizon, the expanses of desert in all directions beginning to take an orange tint to their bone white sands.

"It's getting late."

The four picked up their pace and trekked in silence for the remainder of the trip back. The only sound was that of the wind hissing over the dunes of the desert, all else was deathly quiet.

Soon the group approached a lift in the sand, an awkwardly shaped dune in the middle of otherwise flat landscape.

"Here we are." Feren announced, stepping forwards and pushing aside the tarp that blended in deceptively with the rest of the sandy dune.

Their mound was actually a large rise of soft mud and stone that had gotten covered in the debris of the silithid's wake like everything else. The hastily hand carved tunnel went downwards into the earth a ways, only when they were completely underground did it meet into the center point that branched in multiple directions.

Mia looked around, a small lantern hung from the corner as it dimly illuminated various satchels and small crates, tables and chairs. The group lowered their hoods and dropped removed their protective eye-wear.

"It's too late to return, with the sandstorms at night we would get lost in a matter of moments." Feren said with a disconsolate tone. Mia protested agitatedly.

"The people back at my camp need this anti-venom! The sooner we get back the better!"

Gerub was placing his goggles and cloak against the stakes in the wall, hanging them up as he turned back to Mia, an apologetic gleam in his eyes.

"Feren's right, even'f I'd like to see Urok's buddy on'is feet again, can't go no where tonight." The three seemed resolute in the decision to stay, even if Urok merely nodded once during Feren's explanation. Mia seemed flustered, her fists clenched as her posture tightened.

"No! We have to get this stuff back as soon as possible!"

"We won't get anything back to them if we're dead." Feren rebutted, hanging his own garments back up now and sitting at the dingy table in the middle of the room, a beetle scurried across the aged and chipping wood. Feren looked back up to Mia to gauge her response.

Mia had trouble articulating, she stuttered with half formed ideas before sighing heavily and ripping her cloak back. Her dark hair was disheveled and sand blasted, the area around her eyes were lighter than the rest of her face from the over use of goggles in the searing sun.

"Fine." Mia submitted as she sat down in the corner of the room, resting her right arm against a crate of provisions as she placed her fist against her cheek to rest her head.

Gureb reached into a sealed wooden barrel that sat next to the table, pulling from it several loafs of molded bread. He handed out the loafs to each of his companions as they placed them on dirtied clay plates.

"Ye' want any bread? Not tha' best stuff in the world but its edible. 'Least we eat it anyway." Gerub snorted at his own off tone humor as he took a bite. Feren turned in his chair, looking to Mia as she pouted against the wall.

"Pull up a box and sit with us at the table, you should eat." Feren grinned, trying to loosen the mood with a friendly demeanor.

Mia stood up quickly and with annoyed vigor in her steps. Just as she was moving an empty crate to the empty corner of the table Gureb spoke between the smacking of his lips as he chewed on the hard roll.

"There's some cups'n water at that barrel behind ye', mind get'n me a bit. Help ye'self too of course, water is hard ta' come by lately." Gerub took another bite, looking into his plate.

Mia stalled for a moment, looking at Gerub and the others as her pause caused them all to look back at her with suspicion. Mia had given the dwarf an awkward glare.

"Sure, thank you."

Mia filled several of the cups that sat near the barrel, there were more than they could possibly use, even with multiple guests.

Gerub nodded and eagerly accepted, taking a hearty chug. Feren graciously accepted as well while Urok just hummed.

"Thank you." Feren returned graciously, sipping in between bites of his own bread.

"Mhm."

Mia removed her own cloak and laid it against the ground besides the table. The human female was wearing a black linen shirt with a laced neck, though through wear it had lost the laces and as a result the garment was worn more loosely. Like most, Mia wore a pair of hardy beige traveling pants held to her buxom hips by a leather belt.

The daggers in which Mia had employed earlier were visibly sheathed at her side now.

Feren, Urok, and Gerub busied themselves with their eating. Gerub would periodically steal a glance at Mia's shapely bosom, the fabric of her shirt loose to the point of exposing a considerable amount of breast. Feren couldn't help but from time to time look up as well before quickly shooting his eyes back down to his plate.

The only sound from Urok was the sound of stale bread being smashed between his orcish jaws and the occasional gulp of water.

Mia took nibbles of the bread but seemed to have a relatively small appetite at the moment.

"What's the matter, too good for our bread eh?" Gerub said in relevance to Mia's reluctance, beginning to chuckle in a boisterous manner before a choking gasp emitted from the dwarf. Urok and Feren looked up immediately.

"Gerub, are you all-" Feren started before the same affliction took him, now both Gerub and Feren had a look of dread surprise on their face. Gerub was looking at the palms of his hands as the sensation fled from them and the portly bearded male fell from his chair to the ground, unconscious.

Urok tensed and fumed, his nostrils flared as he looked to Mia with hateful suspicion but she too had seemingly fallen prey to the affliction. Mia lay head down against her own plate.

Feren's eyes were fighting to stay open as he arbitrarily reached for his sword that lay across the room for him, as if to fight the illness with force. Feren soon toppled forwards, his upper body crashing into the table.

Urok was grasped as well, but the resilient orc managed to stand as he attempted to battle the invisible foe. He swung his arms wildly to try and keep sensation in his body as he went into a drunk tantrum, groaning and grunting in a decreasing timbre before staggering, balancing himself with his hand against the wall as he looked over the benumbed others.

Urok collapsed, now on his back as he gave one last fruitless swing of his large arm in the air before succumbing like the rest.


	6. Chapter 5: Heart

**Chapter 5**  
"Heart"

The skies above Dun Morogh were frigid and dark, there was a threatening glaze that consumed all warmth and comfort from the land. Within Ironforge the sounds of dwarven rallying cries and the clanging of iron echoed in all directions. Marching down the main pathway of the great dwarf capital were the great battalions that had been mustered in response to the silithid threat.

"Are ya' gonna ride a flyin' machine, papa?" A wide eyed young dwarf child asked a heavily armored soldier who had paused from his march.

"Remembar' sonny, I don't fly one'a them things. Your papa drives a tank!" Gerub said proudly, plated fists against armored hips in a triumphant stance as he said so.

"Aw." The child seemed disappointed, but none the less came in to hug Gerub around his waist. Kneeling down Gerub hugged his son, Dorek, back before encouraging him with a stout nudge to return to a safer area. With a bit of mist in both of their eyes they parted, Gerub returning to his regimen and his son vanishing in the crowd of those who had remained behind in the emptying city.

The sting of sand deluged wind ripped across his bare flesh. Gerub woke up to the roaring wail of the desert. His hands were bound.

"Ugh! Hey!" The dwarf shouted out as he tried to struggle himself free. Though soon he was taken by a more dire distress. He was sitting out in the middle of the desert, with no recognizable land marks in any direction.

Gerub twisted and toiled, he was bound to something much heavier as he turned his ragged bearded head over his shoulder to look at the restriction. It was Feren and Urok, all three of them back to back and their hands bound together in the middle of their triangle. They had all been stripped of their clothing except for the very bottom most layer, their simple white sleeping clothes and linen pants.

"'Ey! Feren! Orc!" He struggled a bit more tiresomely to try and shake the sedated others. Feren eventually stirred and Urok began to grunt, disturbed, in his sleep.

"Wake up! We gotta problem!"

"Er... Gerub?" Feren started to wake as soon the unfamiliar feeling of their surroundings jolted Feren into a more alert state.

"Wha-... Where are we?" Feren said as he surveyed the endless desert.

All of them were suffering from sun burnt and sand blasted skin. Gerub's beard had taken on a more white tone than a dark brown one due to the accumulation of dust.

Urok woke up and instantly began to vigorously try and free himself from the binds, inadvertently shrugging the other two about.

"Hey! Calm down big guy!" Feren shouted over the cry of the wind, his head turned over his shoulder to Urok. All of them barely had their eyes open to avoid the sand as best they could.

Urok ceased for the moment but angrily began to look about, then calming a bit with heavy, agitated breaths.

"I don't know where we are, I woke up not a handful of seconds 'efore you all did."

Feren seemed within contemplation now, not responding immediately.

"Where's Mia?"

Gerub sighed and shook his head, twiddling his stubby toes against the sand.

"Well, she ain't here. Less either of you two see her anywhere."

Urok and Feren looked about a bit more thoroughly, nothing but billowing clouds of dust in every direction.

"No point in sayin' it, I trust we're all sharp enough to figure what prolly just happened eh?" Gerub said with a despondent, vengeful timbre.

"We can't stay out here, that's for sure." Feren replied.

"No, we can't. I don't know where we are though! Sand in every bloody direction."

Feren tried another attempt at freeing his binds, no luck.

"Well our hands are the only things bound, we gotta get movin' so we're just gonna have to deal."

They all nodded, and as if the plan was evident to all of them Gerub, Urok, and Feren all stood in unison till a problem with the dwarf's plan appeared.

Gerubs feet were no longer on the ground, wedged between the other two and hanging forwards by his restrained wrists.

"Aw, bloody!" Gerub scowled and rolled his eyes.

A moment later the towering orc roared in annoyance as Urok's hulking form flexed and stressed as with brutish strength Urok began to pull free. Feren and Gerub groaning but trying to pull their own weight as the ropes soon became a tourniquet. Urok roared out once more and with an explosive swing of his arms the ropes ripped apart and thumped against the desert floor.

Gerub fell the short distance, landing on his feet as he rubbed his wrists and turned to the other two. He grinned at Urok appreciatively but soon grew serious once more. Feren was looking about trying to identify any familiar dunes or formations.

"It's just sand in erry' direction." Gerub said bluntly with a heaving sigh.

"All...ways sand." Urok chortled in with rare, broken humor accompanied with a deep orcish laugh.

Feren remained focused and quiet as Gerub and Urok began to joke around to lighten an otherwise despondent situation.

"Ah! We're not far from the mound!" Feren suddenly cheered in as Gerub and Urok looked to him.

"How'n you tell? Have ye' gone mad all ready? There's nothin' to go by!"

"I've been here." Feren began to explain over Gerub's realist pessimism.

Gerub quieted and Urok listened as Feren looked about once more, as if searching for the way to formulate his explanation to his sudden epiphany to their location.

"It's hard to explain, but trust me." Feren said, hands up in wild gestures as he looked to the other two for trust.

Gerub rolled his bearded lips in reluctance, then he nodded.

"All right, let's see where ye' can lead us to then. My feet are get'n ready to melt off anyway."

Feren nodded as he began to lead the other two off to the east, a sea of flat beige in every direction. They walked for what seemed like hours, Gerub had resorted to wrapping what little bit of a shirt he had left around his head to protect him from further sun damage and to cool his hairy face. Urok weathered it all with seemingly impervious acclimation to the heat and Feren was so focused in their path that he had begun to ignore his scorched flesh.

Just as Gerub began to open his mouth to release more exhausted pessimism Feren pointed out ahead, beyond a swirling cloud of dust the silhouette of familiar dunes and their sturdy mound in the distance came into view. They had located their hovel in a plethora of arbitrary sand piles so as to better camouflage it when it had first been dug out.

"Well, consider me impressed lad!" Gerub cheered as he straightened his posture in renewed vigor.

Feren smiled as they jogged the rest of the way, reaching their makeshift home and running down it's entrance passage to find that one issue had only been replaced with another. Gerub was the first to speak, all with their jaws agape and brows angrily furrowed.

"We've been ransacked! Not a dribble or drop left- My god! They even, who even, they took everythin'! They even took the crappy lil' table!"

They looked about the mound, searching every nook and cranny for anything left. Nothing of use or value had been left.

"I'd be so optimistic to hope this isn't our place..." Feren sighed, index finger and thumb clasping the bridge of his nose while his free arm wrapped around his groaning abdomen.

A heavy thud thumped out, Urok had punched the hard clay wall of the mound in his frustration. All three of them in their own way were visible distressed.

"Well, that's all our food! Our water! Our clothes! Our armor! Everythin'! We got the clothes on our back and that's it." Gerub grumbled as he stared at the wall for a moment, then turning to Feren with fire in his eyes.

"That busty lass took it, I knew she was trouble. I knew we shouldn't'a let her come I knew it was a bad idea from the start!" The portly dwarf scolded the other two who hadn't had objections to Mia returning with them initially.

Feren rebutted with a quickly articulated plan of action.

"If it was that girl, Mia, then chances are all our stuff is back at that camp. I _assume _it's still the day after us meeting her and all those other survivors."

Gerub nodded heavily, looking off to wall with an angry glare. Urok pushed his boulder sized fist into his open palm. Feren sighed and wiped his sand blasted hair back against his scalp.

"Let's go get it back."


	7. Chapter 6: Lawless

**Chapter 6**  
"Lawless"

Warily the three approached the location of the camp that rest on the edge of the dry Southfury river bed. They were fortunately veiled by the consistent presence of sand storms and the howl of the desert winds.

"What's the plan then?" Gerub looked to his right, to Feren as the three peered over the giant dip in the sands that lead downwards to the camp. From their vantage point they could make out the silhouettes of the tents and not much else through the dust.

"Well, we don't have any weapons so we'll need to approach a bit more delicately if that girl is down there. We also need to consider the possibility of her working with others from that camp." Feren made gestures in the air with his extended finger as if drawing an invisible battle plan.

Urok kept to himself as he listened in, his understanding of common was much broader than his ability to speak it.

"Righty right." Gerub whispered as if his rugged voice would travel through the crying desert and alert the camp below.

The sun had begun to set, now an orange and red haze swell throughout the desert. The shadows of the tents had grown long as the sun began to dip behind distant, unseen mountain ranges. The sands took on the color of the evening as if the entire expanse had rusted over.

The three waited until a particularly obscuring sand storm raged throughout the area. Feren ignored the stinging pain as billions of little debris particles assaulted his sun burnt skin. Gerub's beard had almost completely become clumped with dust and sand, to the point of its original dark chocolate color being smothered out. Urok, except for the necessary squinting and shielding of the eyes seemed relatively unaffected.

They crept to the boundary of the camp, the three doing their best to remain silent. The assistance of the wailing desert was greatly appreciated. As they hid behind the first large tent they approached on the perimeter, the silhouette of a cloaked individual scrambled out from the tent on the entrance that pointed towards the inside of the camp. Everything grew tense, Feren peered around the corner to see the figure walking alongside the tent towards its back, where they were.

Feren looked to the other two and placed a silencing finger to his lips, Gerub and Urok nodded in unison. They worked remarkably well together, perhaps it was all that time they had spent together in the mound, perhaps it was their experiences prior to their current predicament, who knew.

Just as the cloaked figure came around the edge of the tent, Feren swung his long arm around, fist curled and aimed for the face before Feren stopped just short of striking the now startled and surprised individual.

It was the old man whom they had encountered their first time approaching the camp as well.

The elderly human didn't say anything, but merely had a bewildered expression as Feren dropped his arm to his side. Gerub and Urok relaxed their positions and stood more properly now as well.

"Sorry." Feren said with an awkward scratch to the back of his skull.

The old man looked to all three who were poorly clothed and slowly being devoured by the raging winds and sand storms. Not saying anything he motioned with his hand for them to follow as he turned back towards the tent entrance.

"I don't know..." Gerub whispered in Feren's direction, shaking his head in protest of the idea of following.

"Just an old man." Feren replied as he followed behind. Gerub sighed heavily and Urok followed up last.

Once they were in the otherwise empty tent save for arbitrarily placed piles that were covered by heavy leather tarps the old man turned back towards them and pulled his hood back. The elderly man's hair was bleached white with age, his chin and chops bearded lightly with a connecting mustache.

"What are you all doing out with nothing on?" He seemed surprised, looking over their ravaged skin and hair.

"Well, we were hopin' you could help us with that one!" Gerub began to start with an anxious and angry tone, seemingly accusing the citizens of the camp all ready. Though he was cut short by the old man as he desperately asked out.

"Is Mia not with you? Where is she?" His tone was worried and raspy, his hands grasped the front folds of his cloak nervously as his fingers compulsively kneaded at the fabric.

Feren and Gerub seemed taken back for a moment, looking to each other as if to read the others expression before looking back.

"She's not here?" Feren asked, just a moment before Gerub was about to ask the same.

The old man shook his head.

"No, she isn't! We've not seen her since she left with you all."

Urok was listening in as he usually did, but during the conversation he couldn't help but notice something peculiar within the tent. The stoic orc soon became fixated on a tarp shrouded pile.

"Last we saw of her was last night." Feren soon decided to begin explaining the transpirations of the previous night and current morning.

The old man seemed genuinely distressed at the news, Gerub almost began to feel sorry for him. Urok continued to gaze over the peculiar pile, particularly at a broad distortion under the material. The old man became aware of Urok's insistent staring and seemed troubled, his vision blinking between the three periodically.

"We were resting from the trip when we were all suddenly rendered unconscious by some form of sedation." Feren spoke with a gasping tone as the severity of his sun seared skin began to strike at him in his relaxed demeanor. Blisters had formed in the more deeply burnt areas along his shoulders and arms. Gerub suffered mild reddening along his back and chest having removed his shirt to opt for placing it on his head at one point in their journey back.

The old man listened in with shock and surprise on his face, still molding the fabric of his attire in his hands idly. There was a consistent flapping from the tent sides as the wind would spill through.

"Then we woke up off to the west in the middle of the desert with nothing but what you see us with, we found our way back to our hideout and it'd been cleaned out." Feren said with a heaving sigh, lightly stroking his left shoulder with his right hand.

"Mia wasn't with us."

"I see..." The old man looked down at his feet, then back up to Feren.

Eventually Urok couldn't resist his curiosity any more. He stepped forwards away from the others and grasped at the edge of the tarp that covered the pile that had grabbed his attention ever since they entered.

"Wait! What are you doing?" The old man turned to Urok with a distressed expression, his hands up in front of him in a stopping gesture.

Gerub and Feren had begun to say something, but they too trusted Urok's instincts so they were willing to see what he was on to. Urok ripped the tarp off its clasps and stakes unveiling the pile, several crates and stacks of other equipment. The old man froze in his steps.

"Well, that's peculiar!" Gerub snorted annoyedly.

Urok's attention the entire time had been from the imprint of his axe under the tarp on top of the pile. He hefted up the colossal weapon and looked at Feren and Gerub.

"Steal!" Boisterously and deep was the orc's declaration, Urok's demeanor became furious as he looked at the old man with hateful conviction.

Gerub and Feren looked about and began unveiling the other piles, it was all their things that had been stolen from their camp. When it was all out in the open they turned to the old man once more.

"Got anythin' to say for yer'self?" Gerub had found his mace, holding it to his side now.

The old man stood differently than before, he didn't look as despondent or even as frail as he had moments ago. He stood there with a strong posture and a keen glare in his deep blue eyes. Urok didn't like it, or perhaps it saw something within the man's intentions, either way Urok took a heavy stride towards the man and lifted his axe high.

"Urok! Wait he's just an old man!"  
"Wait lad!"

Urok didn't listen, he swirled his titanic double edged blade around and swept the blade towards the midsection of the elderly human. Gerub and Feren cringed and shouted for Urok to stop but the orc was resolute in his execution, or would have been would it not have been for what happened next.

With startling deftness the old man lept back from his feet, curling his legs and back above the swing of the axe as he flipped back through the air and out of the tent completely dodging Urok's lethal attack.

All of them gasped with surprise but in the same moment that the swing had been dodge suddenly the tent sides ripped open and three more cloaked figures lept in towards each one of them. The three reacted with battle hardened precision. The figure that had lept for Feren brandished twin scimitars that drooled with a vile slathering of what could only be assumed to be poison. The attacker heading for Gerub had a familiar pair of daggers in their hands that glistened as well with the deathly spread. Heading for Urok was a tremendously large assailant who had charged in rather than the acrobatics of the other two, this one possessing a set of large cleavers with vicious serration along their edge.

Feren narrowly avoided a disturbingly fast swipe of a scimitar that had aimed to split his neck open, now that he had a good look he could see his assailant was a night elf, memory serving him to recognize him as the one who had been hovering over the troll the previous day. Gerub had swung his mace in retaliation but the cloaked figure rolled through the air with remarkable athleticism and avoided it entirely, landing softly behind the dwarf and planting a fierce elbow into his back that caused him to groan out and stumble forwards.

Urok howled and pulled his axe through the air towards what appeared to be a gigantic tauren male, dark pitch fur and ivory horns pointing forwards menacingly. The large beast-like humanoid flared his nostrils and parried the blow with a clashing meet from both of his axes, continuing his stampede forwards as he collided with Urok, sending him back a couple feet from the violent impact. Combat was awkward, the three dealing with now both the assailants and the sand as it swirled through the now shredded tent area.


End file.
